I've been a fan of Japanese popular music for 40 years, and have managed to collect a lot of material during that time. So I decided I wanted to talk about Showa Era music with like-minded fans. My particular era is the 70s and 80s (thus the "kayo kyoku"). The plus part includes a number of songs and artists from the last 30 years and also the early kayo. So, let's talk about New Music, aidoru, City Pop and enka.
Credits
I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.
Showing posts with label Masahiro Kuwana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Masahiro Kuwana. Show all posts
A friend of mine went to Japan for vacation about a month ago. Last time we spoke he was on the train headed to Osaka. While he was planning his trip he had asked me to hook him up with a Osaka playlist for when he got there. Of course I included the essential hits by Masaki Ueda, but I also found him some other great artists like Takajin Yashiki, and Masahiro Kuwana. One common theme I find with Osaka music is that they really love the blues. Which makes sense since I'm pretty sure they had a big Blues Rock scene back in the 70s, spearheaded by bands like West Road Blues Band, Funny Company, and Ukadan. Here's some of my favorites, let me know if I should have recommended others.
Osaka Big River Blues (大阪ビッグ・リバー・ブルース) by Ukadan
Sweet Home Osaka by Funny Company
Your Osaka (あんたの大阪 ) by Hako Yamazaki (She's from Oita Prefecture but its still a nice song)
Since coming to Osaka (大阪へ出て来てから) byJunji Ariyama (有山じゅんじ) and Masaki Ueda 上田正樹
おそうじ Obachan by Ukadan
As a bonus, here's an updated version of Since coming to Osaka from 2007. much jazzier while still retaining the honky-tonk nature.
Rum and vodka? Hmmm...sounds like putting together TNT and nitroglycerin. Then again, I was never much of a drinker so I think those two forms of alcohol are fairly lethal for a guy like me. For the purposes of this article, I was trying to look for any cocktail that includes rum and vodka and I didn't have to look far. There is the (in)famous Long Island Iced Tea as you can see above.
Back in my university days in the 1980s, one of my newfound friends after the Japanese-Canadian Students' Association had been formed and I ended up going to either Kuri the karaoke bar or some other drinking establishment in downtown Toronto with the rest of the gang. Of course, I stuck with my dependable Coke but my friend was intrigued by this tall cool cocktail known as the Long Island Iced Tea. Of course, neither of us knew it really wasn't iced tea but something far more potent with a whole plethora of stuff in there including rum and vodka. He ordered it, drank it and enjoyed it to the last drop. By the last subway, he was ready to drop. But before that, he was flying around like an overcaffeinated gibbon on the subway handholds. He was out of his mind, maybe out of his body and the next morning, out of much of his digested food perhaps. Maybe it was that experience that I witnessed but I've yet to have my first Long Island Iced Tea.
Anyways, all that preamble ramble about rum and vodka is up there so that I can introduce "Rum & Vodka", a track by City Pop chanteuse Haruko Kuwana（桑名晴子）from her June 1985 album"Don't You Know". It's great to have Kuwana back on the blog after so long and although the song has a pretty potent title, this tune composed by her brother Masahiro Kuwana（桑名正博）and written by Itsuro Shimoda（下田逸郎）is quite the laidback and groovy product that straddles the line between City Pop and urbane pop although I think the saxophone has it brought over to the former side. I can happily take in this "Rum & Vodka" without fearing any violently deleterious effects.
As the Kyoku sisters and Mr. Calico are enjoying their walk through a gold-and-orange forest, autumn did arrive officially here at 8:44 am Eastern Daylight Time this morning. I had my own 40-minute walk running an errand and though it was overcast then (nice and brilliant as I type this now), it's been cool outside but without that slightly frosty snap in the air. I'm sure the cold tang will come in soon enough though.
I was looking for an autumn-themed song to start my own contribution to "Kayo Kyoku Plus" today and one song that came out at me was Masahiro Kuwana's（桑名正博）"Tsuki no Akari" (Light of the Moon). This was the late singer-songwriter's 14th and final single from November 1988, and it's good old-fashioned rock-and-roll ballad about a guy who's leaving town and the woman he loves (or loved). He keeps on telling her that he's just taking off for a while but the feeling is that he's trying (and probably failing) to reassure her that he'll be back someday.
Despite the sad lyrics by Itsuro Shimoda（下田逸郎）, Kuwana's melody and Fujimal Yoshino's（芳野藤丸） arrangement of said melody make for a wonderfully nostalgic musical experience especially with the solos of the guitar and the brassy bluesy saxophone. And the fact that this would be Kuwana's final single brings further poignancy, although he wouldn't pass away until many years later in 2012. As for the autumnal element, there is nothing overtly seasonal stated but I can imagine that the theme of romantic breakup and the mention of the moon are somewhat subtle hints.
As Kayo Grace Kyoku is showing up above, it is Family Day today in most provinces in Canada including my home of Ontario. My own family had our big get-together a couple of days ago; we had sushi and pie because we like sushi and pie. Incidentally, let me introduce Kayo's family: we've got Kayo's mother Sayo at top left, and her two younger sisters, Mayo and Nayo going from left to right, and then at top right is father Garfield (yeah, like the cat). They have residences in Tokyo and Unionville, Ontario.
In any case, before I end up creating an entire background for the Kyoku family, let me get to the special edition of Reminiscings of Youth that I always do on holidays. I've chosen Kenny Loggins'"This is It", a song which I first discovered through a K-Tel compilation record commercial all the way back in my junior high school days and a few seconds of the official music video above is all I got. Since then, I've gotten to know a lot of Loggins' discography and even noted a few of his works in previous ROY articles but it took quite a while longer to appreciate "This is It" which was created by the singer and Michael McDonald who also contributes his distinct vocals.
When I heard "This is It" which was released as this soft rock song in October 1979, I had taken it to be a song of encouragement for those sitting on the borderline about whether or not to initiate some sort of courtship. Actually though, from what I read from the comments below the various copies of the song on YouTube and then the Wikipedia article on it, Loggins finally completed it as not a love song but as a life song as the man himself put it. His father had been going through surgery after surgery to resolve medical issues and as he was getting discouraged about the future, the singer and songwriter finally came up with the lyrics as not only encouragement but as a not-too-harsh smack on the head to stand up and fight and not give in or up.
The interesting thing is that usually when I hear a song with this lyrical theme of fighting against adversity, I get sound images of heroic marches or even enka. Not with "This is It"; it sounds sultry and smooth which would explain why I had initially thought it was a love ballad. Regardless of how people interpreted the music and lyrics, the song was another success for Loggins as it reached No. 9 on Canada's RPM chart and No. 11 in America.
I was able to find what was occupying the top three spaces on the Oricon Top 10 list for October 1st 1979 (although I don't know exactly which day "This is It" was released).
Usually when I think of the late Masahiro Kuwana（桑名正博）, sounds of City Pop with a touch of rock come to mind.
However, this track in his 2nd album"Masahiro II"（マサヒロ・II）from July 1977 hits somewhat different. "Sameta Yume" (Waking from a Dream). Written and composed by Kuwana, it kinda falls somewhere among a regular summery kayo, a 1960s American pop tune with a similar rhythm to Otis Redding's"(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" and even Jimmy Buffett's"Margaritaville" which was released some months before Kuwana's album.
"Sameta Yume" is simply a relaxing beachside pop song with Kuwana's strong and soulful voice. One can easily drink a true margarita to this one and with the weather these days, I can certainly fantasize the imagery. Hope all of you are having a good weekend wherever you are. "Masahiro II" also has a couple of tracks that I've already written about: "Sayonara no Natsu"（さよならの夏）and "Aishuu Tonight"（哀愁トゥナイト）.
The last time that I wrote up on the late multi-genre singer-songwriter and musician Masahiro Kuwana（桑名正博）was back in 2019 for his "Dancing" song. Moreover, I did provide an article regarding his sister, Haruko（桑名晴子）, just last week, so it's high time to bring back her brother.
"On The Highway" is the lead track on Kuwana's third album"Tequila Moon"（テキーラ・ムーン）from July 1978. I'd been wondering whether this would land in the City Pop file, an area that the singer has also plied his music, but I think that this appealing start to the album is more along the lines of the country/rock edge of AOR. Written by Itsuro Shimoda（下田逸郎）and composed by Kuwana himself, it's the story of a fellow coming home to his one-and-only love after a while on the road. Not surprisingly, "On The Highway" is one upbeat tune of anticipation, powered along by the horns and the guitars.
Kuwana passed away a decade ago at the age of 59, and his birthday is just a few weeks away, but I'm hoping that wherever he is, he is looking down on this song with some pride and joy...and perhaps lifting a mug of beer in tribute.
It would be logical for a compilation album titled "Light Mellow ~ Dancing" to start off its 73 minutes and change with a song titled "Dancing".
And sure enough, that is indeed the case here. "Dancing" was originally a track on Masahiro Kuwana's（桑名正博）third album"Tequila Moon"（テキーラ・ムーン）from July 1978. Beginning with what sounds like a slightly slowed-down Steely Dan riff, "Dancing" then goes into full dynamism with Kuwana's music and vocals producing a work that sounds mighty enticing for Gino Vannelli to try out. Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）is the fellow behind the lyrics hoping for that young lady to come up and ask for a dance somewhere in the heart of Osaka.
There are also some pretty famous session musicians in on the fun as well such as Jake H. Concepcion on the saxophone, Shin Kazuhara（数原晋）on one of the trumpets, and Kuwana himself getting happy on the electric guitar and the 12-string guitar according to the liner notes in "Light Mellow ~ Dancing". Even his sister, Haruko Kuwana（桑名晴子）, is helping out on backing vocals. Sangrias for all!
It took a while but I finally did get that Haruko Kuwana（桑名晴子）debut album"Million Kisses" (1978) over the Holidays. Having already written about a couple of tracks in there, "You're Young" and "Akogare no Sundown"（あこがれのSundown）, I finally pulled the trigger on my yen gun and it came on in.
From the above two songs, I definitely got the impression that this would be a very soulful beginning for the career of Ms. Kuwana, thanks to her honeyed and sultry vocals. Plus, the songs take things across the Pacific in terms of the overall sound. In fact, Side A of the original LP was apparently recorded in Hawaii while Side B was in Los Angeles.
The first track here today is from the L.A. side of things, "Machiawase"（待ち合わせ...Rendezvous）. About someone racing to meet that significant other, presumably somewhere in Tokyo (perhaps Hachiko?), before being considered tardy, it's a cool, driving and happy-go-lucky number of mellow funk. I think that there is something very City of Angels about it and yet there is an instrumental part near the end that brings things back to Tokyo. Both Haruko and her brother, singer-songwriter Masahiro Kuwana（桑名正博）, came up with the lyrics while frere Kuwana composed the music.
(The video was taken down but you can check 41:37 in the full album video below.)
As with remastered Japanese albums nowadays, the new versions often come up with bonus tracks, and "Million Stars" is no exception. One of those tracks is "Key wa Futari de"（Keyはふたりで...Key For Two）which was originally Kuwana's 4th single from August 1979. Written by Machiko Ryu（竜真知子）and composed by Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）, it's a playful City Pop strut where this time, one half of the relationship is racing in a car to meet the other half. Not surprisingly, this was created for a Nissan commercial.
Going back to the original tracklist, we have "Kaze no Naka ni"（風の中に...In The Wind） at 26:54 in which Kuwana seems to go more into the 1970s Linda Ronstadt frame of mind as she sings about sitting down on a hill somewhere and getting some natural therapy after what I assume is a breakup. It's a ballad that is more in the pop/AOR vein.
(full album)
Track 2, "Sarigenaku sugi Yuku Toki ni"（さりげなく過ぎゆく時に...When Casually Passing） from the Hawaii side (3:45) is something that I could envision Kuwana singing at a party or in an intimate nightclub while appreciative guests/fans flock around the piano. With lyrics by Haruko and music by Masahiro, there is a dreamy arrangement while the story told here seems to be of two ships passing in the night with the possibility being that they may have had encounters in the past but for reasons unknown, those encounters will stay in the past. This was her 2nd single from July 1978 and "Akogare no Sundown" was the B-side.
The title track at 16:12 is totally sung in English and was written & composed by Chucky Souza with arrangement by Mackey Feary, the same fellow who came up with the original version of "You're Young". It's got a nice Latin beat although that drum sometimes sounds more like a very slow basketball dribble.
My final song at 20:06 is an interesting one since when I first heard it, I went "Where have I heard that one before?". As it turns out, it's a cover of "Give A Little" by the late Nicolette Larson, one of my favourites by her that I first heard when I got her BEST compilation. Kuwana spins "Give A Little" into a happy, funky and let's-strut-down-Meiji-Dori version. Frany and Bill Payne were responsible for this song. As comparison, you can listen to the original mellow take below.
For years, I've seen the iconic cover for "Million Stars" in "Japanese City Pop" and on YouTube, and I'm glad to say that I've finally gotten my copy. Will be giving this album repeated playings for the next number of years.
Saw the trailer for "The Last Jedi", the next installment of the "Star Wars" saga. It's hard to believe that it's been 40 years since "A New Hope" blasted away on movie screens everywhere. I still remember lining up at the theatre up north of my place for over an hour to finally see the original "Star Wars" for the first time...two years after it was first released. That theatre had been playing the movie everyday for over 24 months and it was still attracting snake-like lines! Mind you, those were the days when VCRs were still new so the only source to see the movie was paying those bucks over and over at the theatre. Different times, they were.
Several weeks after the release of "A New Hope" in 1977, the late Masahiro Kuwana（桑名正博）released his 2nd album"Masahiro II"（マサヒロ・II）in July. Of course, the one song by him I know really well is his big hit from 1979, the oddly-titled but funkalicious and disco-y "Sexual Violet No. 1"(maybe I was standing in line for "Star Wars" at the Fairview when it was released).
However, this earlier track from "Masahiro II" is "Sayonara no Natsu" (The Goodbye Summer), a nicely soulful and sunset ballad that does bring up memories of walking along the shore towards Kamakura back in October 2014. I swear, listening to this one had me judging that this could be one of the best concoctions by the team of lyricist Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）and composer Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）that I have ever heard. And Kuwana has got more great backup from his fellow musicians such as Yukihiro Takahashi（高橋ユキヒロ）on drums, Masayoshi Takanaka（高中正義）on guitar, and Tsugutoshi Goto（後藤 次利）on bass.
Still, what brings it together are the sweet and mellow vocals of Kuwana himself. He gives "Sayonara no Natsu" some great soul. It just goes to show that great City Pop wasn't just restricted to the 1980s.
Some weeks ago, I came across this YouTube video showing a recorded version of the late Masahiro Kuwana's（桑名正博）debut single"Aishuu Tonight" (Sorrow Tonight). I liked the song enough that I figured I would write an article about it sometime only to find out that the video had been taken down.
Fortunately, there were other uploaders who were also quite appreciative of the disco-rock number by Kuwana so I was able to get this performance of him on what I think is Fuji-TV's"Yoru no Hit Studio"（夜のヒットスタジオ）. Released in June 1977, this was another collaboration between lyricist Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）and composer Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）which probably had Kuwana channeling his inner Rod Stewart. It's quite the raucous love song and he may have sent a number of hearts a-flutter on that TV performance. And considering the melody was by the same man, the disco beat has some similarity with a Hiromi Iwasaki（岩崎宏美）hit that would come out the following year "Cinderella Honeymoon"(シンデレラ・ハネムーン). I gather that Tsutsumi really liked that mirror ball back in the day.
Some years later, Hideki Saijo（西城秀樹）would do his own version of "Aishuu Tonight" in his cover album "HIDEKI SONG BOOK" from March 1981. Listening to his amped-up version with the horns and all, I thought that Saijo was the ideal man to cover Kuwana's song. His energy and vocals matched those of the original singer quite well.
I had some extra points in my CD Japan account following that spending surge on its website for Xmas, so of course, I took full advantage of my status and did a bit more shopping. One of the two discs that I trained my target scope on happened to the one pictured above: "Moonlight Island" by husky-voiced Haruko Kuwana（桑名晴子）. I first saw this listed in "Japanese City Pop" and wondered about the tracks in it. Looking at the cover, I had also assumed that the designer must have pulled out part of a photo of a bathing beauty from the 1940s....except that it was actually the lower half of Kuwana herself (oops!). In sheepish apology, I do have to say that she had nice gams in that photo.
"Moonlight Island" was Kuwana's 4th album from 1982, and it is an album of cover songs of New Music material given an urban sheen. The one reason I decided to pull the trigger on this one was on the strength of her cover of Bread & Butter's"Ano Koro no Mama"（あの頃のまま）which I found on YouTube and is one of the tracks of this album.
Another winning track is her version of the New Music/City Pop classic, "Downtown" originally by Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）and Ginji Ito（伊藤銀次）. The video above is actually another songstress doing the Kuwana version (a cover of a cover, as it were), but notice that I did not use the word "unfortunately" at the beginning of this sentence. It is a good take of how I heard it in "Moonlight Island". The Kuwana version is in English (lyrics by Linda Hennrick) and skews a bit more to the 1975 Yamashita arrangement rather than the 1980 update for EPO's debut. Still, no complaints from me here though when push comes to shove, I'll always go with the Princess of City Pop.
"I Love You" is a track that was written in English in the first place as a B-side to soulful Hiro Tsunoda's（つのだ☆ひろ）1973 single,"Mary Jane". Tsunoda was the composer here with Christopher Lyn as the lyricist. Kuwana does a fine job with her vocals, and liner notes in her album mention that this is probably not the only time that "I Love You" has been covered.
Another lovely ballad from the album is "Yoru no Umi"(夜の海...Night Ocean) which is a cover of her late brother's (Masahiro Kuwana...桑名正博) song from his debut album "Who Are You?" (1976). Much like the rest of the songs on "Moonlight Island", Halko's version has that soiree feel of 80s City Pop compared to her brother's quiet Latin-tinged original. But after listening to the live version above, you can listen to both siblings' takes in the video below. By the way, Halko was the backing vocal on Masahiro's original.
Considering my early impression that this was a pretty rare album, I think I'm pretty lucky to have been able to find the videos for the tracks on "Moonlight Island". Like any new purchase, some of the songs leaped right out at me while others I'll have to break in gently. Still, I'm happy to have spent my points on Haruko. I may even be interested in investing in her debut album from 1978, "Million Stars".
My two new purchases, Haruka Kuwana
and Ginji Ito
P.S. July 22 2019: Come Along Radio has provided his own take on the album on Reddit.
One of the more interesting titles I've ever come across in kayo kyoku, seeing the singer's mane and hearing the opening notes remind me of Rod Stewart in his disco age. Just wanna put on those roller skates again. Kuwana's voice even reminds me of Stewart's in a way.Not sure if he ever owned a pair of leopard-skin leggings, though.
Masahiro Kuwana（桑名正博）was born and raised in Osaka. After a year in San Francisco, he returned to Japan and started up his own band, Funny Company, in 1971. The following year, the band debuted with "Sweet Home Osaka". But after leaving a couple of albums to posterity, Funny Company broke up, and in 1975, Kuwana launched a solo career. About 4 years later, he would get his big hit in the form of "Sexual Violet No. 1", his 4th single released in July 1979. I first heard it on "The Sounds of Japan", and my first reaction to it was, "Funkalicious!". It hit No. 1 in October of that year and stayed at the top for 3 weeks. Lyrics were provided by Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）, and the music was by Kyohei Tsutsumi（筒美京平）. And in total, the single sold 600,000 copies.
My only question is how many glasses of sake were they imbibing when they came up with the title.
"Roses are red, violets are...sexual?"
NOTE: On October 26 2012 JST, Masahiro Kuwana passed away after being in a coma for some months due to a brain stem hemorrhage on July 15. He was 59 years old.
